A case study on

Effective Communication should

be developed through Trust
BENCHMARK-2011
PSG Institute Of Management, Coimbatore

Authors:

 Sunam Pal
 Kiran Varghese Jacob
Alliance University School of Business

Business
Communication
1 Friday, 25th January 2011
PSGIM, Coimbatore Effective Communication

Transparency, credibility and sticking to the commitments is

very important while communicating. Effective Communication

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is driven through loyalty and trust of the people.

Purpose of this case

• Importance of communication in business
• Understanding unethical practices in business
• Transparency, Credibility & accountability are a
• major concern for managers
• Trust is must in an employee driven company
• Commitment is a worth of company’s values
• Effective management is won through loyalty
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Case Overview
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Characters in Case

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Business Head
Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee
B.tech,Punjab University
Designation: Project Trainee
Internship: 6 months Domain Lead

Project Manager
Mr. Ravi Sharma
Designation: Project Manager
Experience: 9 years
Team Lead

Mr. Shyam Kumar Trainee, Engineers

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Designation: Domain Lead
Experience: 13 years Fri
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Case Overview

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Work Profile:
• Simulating and mending circuits
• Development & validation

Strengths
• Very good at performing task
Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee
• Committed to all deadlines
• Mend and verify circuit better than anyone
else in the team al though being a fresher
Achievements
1. He was given the in charge of entire procurement team & reviewing
electronic items
2. He found flaws in inventory system .optimized it using software and
reduced the whole project life cycle time by 23% 5
3. His inventory model was accepted & implemented by other teams
4. His manager rewarded him for his innovation Fri
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Case Overview

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“Shantanu was very talented and technically
expert. Once you provide him with the
objective, he does that before the stipulated
time with perfection. There is no need of any
mentor or supervisor to guide him. He knew
Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee his work, deadlines and how to make it done”

• Shantanu got more priority over

other trainees
• He interacted with client overseas
• He was in the lime light for a while
• Some senior team members were not Opinion
happy
• His dynamism & progress were taken Mr. Satyajit Khurana 6
as a threat to prestige & position of Designation: Senior Engineer Fri
other team members Experience: 3 years 25 Feb
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Case Overview

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Ms. Sheela,Project Manager Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee

Sheela: “Hi! Am I speaking to Mr. Shantanu

Shantanu: “Yes, Shantanu Speaking”
Sheela: “We have an urgent opening for project trainee. Your CV has been
shortlisted. You would be hired after undergoing 2 rounds of technical PI.Kindly
let me know if you are interested. But the condition apply only when you are not
being hired by the current team or any other team” 7
Shantanu: “Thanks sheela. I would talk to my manager regarding the same and
Fri
revert back in case they are not hiring me”.
25 Feb
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Case Overview

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Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee Mr. Ravi Sharma
• So he had a talk with his current manager, Mr. Ravi who asked
his manager Mr. Shyam Kumar about the vacancy
• Within 2 days he got a reply that Mr. Ravi & his manager are
very satisfied with his performance
• Mr. Ravi informed him that Shantanu’s training period will be
extended to 3 months & will take him as a permanent
employee
• They were ready to hire him at any cost 8
• They said that there will be an interview as a formality and Fri
either of them will be there 25 Feb
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Statements by Mr. Ravi

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“ No need to worry. You can decline your
proposal from Sheela & also from other teams if
coming to you. Interview is just a formality. You
are in. Now don’t think about your interviews
much & concentrate on your projects. We have
lot of expectation from you. One of our team 9
members will be in the panel to take care. Fri
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Shantanu in Interview

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Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee

• Shantanu rejected Miss Sheela’s offer

• Shantanu waited for the day to come…
• During the interview, none of his managers were present
• Shantanu was fired in the interview
• He was asked out of context questions which were not related to his
work. Neither he had worked nor did it match with the profile of the
work he was about to be assigned.
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• Shantanu managed the out of box questions as he was resolving partly
the technical disputes of other team Fri
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 “Shantanu,we cannot hire you because you couldn’t
perform well in the interview

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Mr. Ravi
“Why Ravi, I performed well till date. I am having a very
good track record for last 5 months & feedbacks were
very good as given by you only. I kept to all my deadlines.
You people awarded me. Because of you only I denied
sheela’s offer. You only assured me that the interview
was just a formality & I need to concentrate on my work.
Mr. Shantanu
Our Company’s policy says that while recruitment it is
the interviewer who decides the final selection. The
panel of your interviewer is not ready to hire you. They
have an opinion that the task to which you were going to
be assigned is different from your current profile & does
not meet their expectation. So you can apply for your 11
resignation latest by next 5 days so that it gets updated
to the database before your tenure of training ends by Fri
Mr. Ravi default 25 Feb
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Case Overview

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Mr. Shantanu Bannerjee Ms. Sheela,Project Manager

Shanrtunu: “Hi Sheela, Shantanu speaking. Earlier you called me

regarding a opening in your team. Is it still there”
Sheela: “Shantanu there is no vacancy in our team expected probably till
next 6 months”
Shantanu: “Thanks sheela.” 12
Fri
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Shantanu’s Perception

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• Shantanu did not ask for the feedback after interview as
he was assured that it’s not going to impact anyway.
• He knew that as per company’s policy “Interns are hired
temporarily for projects & thus have no assurance about
confirmation of their job after completion of the project
Mr. Shantanu even if they had performed well.
• He also didn’t have any documentary proof as
everything was intended to him orally.
HR • He could have talked to HR’s, But in his company he
Cannot help
knew that HR will only say that if the line managers are
not ready then no one can do anything as the entire
decision is based on managers.
• Shantanu was helpless.
• Finally he resigned 13
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Teaching Notes
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Prior action to overcome

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the situation
• When the feedback was delayed, Shantanu should have
thought about the other odd situations.
• Shantuna should have been very alert for his interview
• He should have talked to HR regarding other vacancies.
• He should have intelligently managed to use the written
documents like mail about the assurance given by the
manager , so that his claims to HR would have been strong
• He should have talked to his manager’s manager about the
issue
• He should have given a trial, to freely convey the same to his
domain HR 15
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Major Communication Barrier

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• Lack of transparency in communication
• Lack of trust
• Lack of fulfillment of commitment by the manager
• Perception: He believed that HR’s cannot solve his problem in
any way
• Improper organizational structure :Lack of autonomy &
privileges to bottom employees to discuss & resolve their
personal issues.

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Mistakes committed by the

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management
• Project manager should have kept control on his emotions
and waited till the results of the interview came out

• He shouldn’t have assured Shantanu, rather should have told

him to prepare well without giving any guarantee before hand

• Project manager should have justified Shantanu stating him

the actual reasons for not selecting him & should have cleared
all his doubts

• He should have conveyed the message with the motive to

convince him, till he found that Shantanu was with his
statement & was in a position to agree to what he was saying

• Shantanu should have been given with adequate time to make 17

necessary arrangement in the meantime & to make up himself
for the cause Fri
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Conflicting statements

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“ No need to worry. You “ Our Company’s policy
can decline your proposal says that while
from Sheela & also from recruitment it’s the
other teams if coming to interviewer who decides
you. Interview is just a the final selection. The
formality. You are in. Now panel of your interviewers
don’t think about your is not ready to hire you.
interviews much & They have an opinion that
concentrate on your the task to which you were
projects. We have lot of going to be assigned is
expectation from you ” different from your current
profile & does not meet
their expectation ”
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Role of HR & its policy

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• Open door policy should be implemented
• They should have a well expertise team to carry out
employee counseling & manage stress
• HR department should train their managers about of
maintaining transparency, accountability, credibility
& autonomy within employees
• Feedback should be collected from employee when
they are leaving about the reason for leaving
• HR Dept. should train managers without MBA about
communication barriers
• All employees who are undergoing resignation
process should be examined well. They should track
their details & come up with report & analyze all
types of circumstances to encounter such problems 19
before hand & optimize them.
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Conclusion

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• Maintaining effective communication, transparency&
sticking to commitment plays an important role
• Doubts of the bottom line employees should be
clarified
• Employee should have faith in organization
• Organizational structure should be simplified so that
the employees can sort out the problems with HR easily

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PSGIM, Coimbatore E-procurement system of Honeywell & Vedanta

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Questions Please ????
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